Chapter 174: Hong Chengchou, Danger! (Begging for Subscriptions)

"Young Master Li, your great name has thundered in Our ears even within the depths of the palace. We have always regretted that a great talent like Young Master Li, a juren no less, could not be employed by the court. But now all is well — Young Master Li has come over to the righteous side, and the great cause of our Ming restoration is surely within reach!"

Zhu Cilang held Li Yan's large hand all the way up to Haisha Island, only releasing it when they parted to take their seats. He tossed out flattering words as if they cost nothing, making Li Yan quite embarrassed, and he no longer suspected whether his wife had been trifled with by this enlightened sovereign before him. Judging by the man's eagerness to honor the worthy and defer to the learned, surely nothing had happened? It seemed he could set his mind at ease.

"Thousand Years overpraises me. Yan is but a mere scholar, who had no choice but to follow the bandits. I am truly ashamed."

What Li Yan said was truer than pure gold — he really had had no choice but to follow the bandits! Carried off up the mountain by a bandit woman like Hong Niangzi, how could that possibly end well? Faced with such a female bandit, any normal man would find it hard to avoid making a mistake!

Zhu Cilang glanced at Hong Niangzi, who stood beside Li Yan with slightly flushed cheeks, and thought: It's all your fault! Li Yan only followed you because he had no choice. What exactly did you do to Li Yan?

"Young Master Li," Zhu Cilang still addressed Li Yan by his nickname, "you have only just brought your troops over to us, and already you have rendered great merit by killing the foremost warrior of the Manchus! We must reward you richly. By the way, do you wish to be a civil official or a military officer?"

"This student is a scholar, but he has already cast aside the brush for the sword," Li Yan replied. "Better to continue as a military officer."

Zhu Cilang nodded repeatedly: "Good, good, good! Then first serve as Our military advisor. Once We reach Jiangnan, We shall entrust you with weightier responsibilities!"

Li Yan, neither servile nor overbearing, said, "This student thanks Thousand Years."

Zhu Cilang asked again: "Young Master Li is from Henan, is he not?"

"This student is from Kaifeng Prefecture."

Zhu Cilang nodded. "The Central Plain is of great importance. Since ancient times, whoever gains the Central Plain gains the realm! Now the empire is being contested by three parties. What does Young Master Li make of it?"

"Li Zicheng's momentum is great, but his foundation is unstable!" Li Yan said. "His Shun dynasty merely floats on the surface and has not put down roots. When the wind and water are favorable, it looks fine, but once the great situation shifts suddenly, it will easily fall apart."

He said thoughtfully: "At present, the Roving King's best strategy is to hold Shanxi and the Heluo region, to protect his Guanzhong base, and at the same time to put down roots in Guanzhong as quickly as possible."

"Put down roots?" Zhu Cilang asked. "How does one put down roots?"

Li Yan said: "To put down roots means to control land and population. Merely appointing prefects and county magistrates is not enough. One must directly hold at least a portion of the land and population in one's own hands — that is what it means to put down roots!

"Take the guard-battalion system instituted by our dynasty's Exalted Founder Emperor, the fubing system of the Sui and Tang, and the Eight Banners system of the eastern barbarians — all of them directly seized a portion of land and population as the foundation of the state. Only with a foundation can one endure. But Li Zicheng knows only to equalize land and remit taxes; he does not know to place population and land firmly under his control. I fear it will be very difficult for him to rally again. Thousand Years should seize the opportunity to send capable officers to develop Henan."

Zhu Cilang nodded repeatedly. This Li Yan truly had some real insight!

The third day of the fifth month, first year of Shunzhi of the Great Qing.

Yongping Prefecture, located within Shanhai Pass, was now the territory of the Great Qing!

The day after Geng Zhongming and Duolong led their forces out of Yongping, the Qing troops stationed at Yongping tore off the false mask of "aiding the Ming to suppress the bandits." First they dispatched troops to surround the twenty or thirty thousand Ming soldiers inside Funing Guard and Shanhai Pass, forcing them to shave their heads and lay down their arms.

Afterward, Dorgon again transferred troops to occupy the cities beyond the pass such as Ningyuan, and within the pass Yongping, Jizhou, Miyun, Tongzhou, Changping, Yanqing, Xuanfu, and other places.

At the same time, he also sent Hooge at the head of thirty thousand elite troops from the Plain Blue Banner, the Bordered Yellow Banner, and Kong Youde's Han troops of the Plain Red Banner, driving straight for Beijing!

As for the envoys Zhu Cilang had sent into the Qing army's main camp, Dorgon also gave orders to detain them all.

After this round of dispositions, Dorgon sat securely in his tent-palace and awaited good news!

Good news was certain to come. Within the Northern Metropolitan Region, the Great Qing now stood alone and supreme! A full hundred thousand heavenly soldiers, and they had just smashed Li Zicheng's two hundred thousand (in truth only sixty thousand) strong army — they were utterly invincible. Wherever they wished to occupy, they would occupy!

The only question now was whether the Chongzhen Emperor and the Zhu Crown Prince would escape from under the blades of Duolong and Geng Zhongming.

If he truly had that ability, then Zhu Cilang might indeed be worthy of seeking Dong'e's hand in marriage.

Dorgon was in excellent spirits, so he had drunk a little wine. He was half-drunk, pondering whether Zhu Cilang would escape from Dagukou, when suddenly Fan Wencheng's voice came from outside the tent-palace.

"Prince Regent, your slave Fan Wencheng has urgent matters to report."

What was it? The half-drunk Dorgon started, and instinctively thought that Fan Wencheng's wife had been slept with by Dodo again. Fan Wencheng's wife was a second wife, and she was as lovely as a flower, as fair as jade! Somehow Dodo had taken a fancy to her, seduced her, and slept with her. The matter had ended up being reported to Hong Taiji.

Hong Taiji of course valued Fan Wencheng greatly, and also wanted to use the opportunity to discipline Dodo, so he stripped Dodo of fifteen niru and made him pay a thousand taels of silver — not that the thousand taels were given to Fan Wencheng as compensation for the cuckolding; the one who collected the money was Hong Taiji himself. As for why Hong Taiji was entitled to collect a thousand taels of silver because Dodo slept with Fan Wencheng's wife, well, that was a complicated question.

But the situation was different now. Now Fan Wencheng was a booi of the Bordered White Banner, and Dodo was the banner lord of the Bordered White Banner. A banner lord had the right to sleep with a booi's wife. If Fan Wencheng refused to accept it, that would put Dorgon in a very difficult position!

"Come in! Quickly, come in!" Dorgon hurriedly had Fan Wencheng enter the tent-palace. Seeing old Fan's face full of fury and distress, he blurted out: "Has that brat Dodo slept with your wife again? This prince will give him a proper lesson for you right away."

At those words, Fan Wencheng's old face turned red. He quickly waved his hands and said: "No, it is not that my humble wife has again... It has nothing to do with my humble wife."

"Oh. Then why have you come to see this prince in such haste?"

"It is Hong Chengchou!"

"Ah? Dodo slept with Hong Chengchou's wife?" Dorgon shot to his feet, the wine nearly startled out of him. "That will not do!"

Hong Chengchou was no booi slave! Moreover, his original wife, of the Li family, was still back in his old home in Fujian. After he surrendered to the Great Qing, Hong Taiji had bestowed on him a beauty surnamed Liu as his wife. That beauty was not someone Dodo could casually sleep with!

Fan Wencheng's face was full of embarrassment. Had the Prince Regent gotten drunk? Why was he so fixated on this matter?

"My prince, it is not that sort of matter." As Fan Wencheng spoke, he drew from his sleeve a booklet that seemed to have been scorched, its surface charred black, and handed it to Dorgon with both hands. "My prince, this is something your servant and his men found when searching the residence of the remnant Ming envoys. It is an edict from Zhu Cilang to Hong Chengchou."

"What?" Dorgon took the nearly burnt-to-a-cinder booklet, opened it, and began to read. After a few lines, his brows furrowed.

Zhu Cilang's edict read more like a letter, and the main content of the letter consisted of four points. First, he thanked Hong Chengchou for relaying certain information, and said that all preparations had been made and Hong Chengchou could rest assured that nothing would go wrong. As for what the matter was, it was not stated explicitly.

Second, concerning the relocation of the capital southward and the arrangements for the Northern Metropolitan Region. Zhu Cilang told Hong Chengchou that he had carefully considered Hong's suggestion and had decided to proceed south to the auxiliary capital as soon as possible. He entrusted all affairs of the north to Hong, and appointed him Minister Guardian of Beijing and Governor-General of the Northern Metropolitan Region. He also said that arrangements had already been made within the city of Beijing, and that they awaited Hong Chengchou's entry into the city.

Third, concerning the establishment of a substitute fief. Zhu Cilang told Hong Chengchou that it was already being carried out according to plan, and that someone had been sent to persuade Jiang Xiang to come over to the righteous side.

Fourth, concerning a marriage alliance between the Ming and the Qing. Zhu Cilang asked Hong Chengchou to find a way to bring the matter to fruition.

After Dorgon finished reading Zhu Cilang's edict, his brows knitted deeply: "Scholar Fan, what do you make of this?"

Fan Wencheng shook his head and said: "Hard to say, hard to say. Perhaps it is a stratagem to sow discord, but it could also be genuine!"

Dorgon looked at Fan Wencheng. "Do you think Hong Chengchou could betray our Great Qing?"

"He should not," Fan Wencheng said, "but one must still be on guard!"

Dorgon asked again: "How was this edict obtained?"

Fan Wencheng said: "When your slave led men to detain the Ming envoys, we discovered them burning letters, and so sent men to search and seize them. According to the Ming envoy Lin Yihu, this edict arrived only last night, and the original plan was to deliver it to Hong Chengchou this evening."

(End of Chapter)